Briene Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 I just noticed Kyle mentioned blatticomposting on his site. Which I think is awesome! Since I'm huge into giving all of my table scraps to my roaches and it works out beautifully. Was wondering who else is into blatticomposting. He posted this link as well with more information if your interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 I use wood chips and rotting wood for substrate. In a month there is enough feces and broken down wood the substrate could make great fertilizer for small pots or gardens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
island reptiles Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 we actually just purchased a bunch of Ivory nymphs from Herpetologyfrk to grow into a colony with plans of donating some to the research we have other plans for them also but part would be donated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCrackerpants Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 We are doing this with our household fruit and vegetable waste. It is working good but I put too much into one of my colonies and they did not eat the dogfood. It sat on the bottom and a MASSIVE grain mite explosion occurred and took out half the colony before I knew what was going on. Live and learn. Now I add small amounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Hahaha I love the aspect of composting with roaches and I think most keepers here have been blatticomposting for years without even knowing it. Before I gave away most of my reptiles I was feeding canned dog food to my lizards and I would throw the cans in my blaberus bins and find them the next day spotlessly clean with the paper and glue eaten off completly. Aswell as spare mangos and avacados are eaten to the seed and then the fibers on the seed are chewed off completly. "Yes I know that is a sign of poor husbandry" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitch8604 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Everyone talks about ivorys for this but I'm just starting my ivorys however my blatta lats seem to eat everything i throw in there. Why wouldn't they work for it? Has it been studied? I know they are considered a pest in some areas. Just questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briene Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 I don't think the species that you use matters I dont even own any ivorys I use mainly my portentosa's and other big colonies that I have : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesavageprojects Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 i actually asked kyle why he chose the ivories, he said "I picked the Ivories for their crowding tolerance, voracious appetite, and their keenness for eating their own dead." all roaches species would be suitable for blatticomposting, some just better than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briene Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 I hope some ivories are available soon. I love the clean up skills of my portentosas . I will put a ton of food remnants in their container and they will devour it oh so quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Clausen Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Just fed too-brown bananas to a few species and they're devouring them. My wife was peeling potatoes the other day and saved the peels for me. My bugs love yams at Thanksgiving! And pumpkin, actually, too! My kids leave their watermelon rinds and apple cores in plastic bags sometimes. They know these things will all be put to good use. We're Costco shoppers. Lots of mouths to feed in this house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briene Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 I did rotting carrots yesterday. They loved it! I almost did rotting cucumber. I always google anything I'm iffy about and ask fellow roach gurus. I'm happy I did! Turns out cucumber isn't very yummy to roaches I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierre72 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I did rotting carrots yesterday. They loved it! I almost did rotting cucumber. I always google anything I'm iffy about and ask fellow roach gurus. I'm happy I did! Turns out cucumber isn't very yummy to roaches I guess. Yes, in fact I read that cucumber peal is actually a roach-repellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonnie Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I'm completely interested in Blatticomposting. If you have any other sites to reference more about it please let me know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RomanBuck Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 It's a great thing to do if you have enough roaches. I'm going to be doing it in the summer with N. cinerea. It's not hard to do either. And a plus is that if you hve enough roaches you can use the poo as fertilizer for your plants and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonsaladsandwich Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 We are doing this with our household fruit and vegetable waste. It is working good but I put too much into one of my colonies and they did not eat the dogfood. It sat on the bottom and a MASSIVE grain mite explosion occurred and took out half the colony before I knew what was going on. Live and learn. Now I add small amounts. What do you mean, "took out half the colony"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RomanBuck Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 He is saying that the grain mites killed off half of the colony before he knew what had happened. Grain mites suck so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisserdude Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Don't even get me started on my mite problem! I have these mites that are 2-3 times larger than grain mites, hard shelled, and quite fast. Grain mites do not do well in dry containers, but these mites breed best in dry containers, and most of my bugs are darkling beetles, which I keep on the dry side. Plus, these things spread to other cages like wildfire. However, I am currently breeding a variety of springtails, and I am introducing them to recently sterilized cages to prevent mites from re-infesting them. These mites came from potting soil, which I had been using in place of coco fiber a few months back. Bug keepers be warned, do NOT use potting soil, or you might have a really bad mite problem very soon.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonsaladsandwich Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Grain mites kill roaches? Seriously? I guess they have very catholic little appetites. My original question was going to be different but i thought it would sound stupid if i said "You mean the mites kill them?" Yikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisserdude Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Yea, if grain mites run out of food, they attach themselves to the roaches, and can block up their breathing holes thus suffocating the poor roaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonsaladsandwich Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Ooooh... That makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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